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37 To Compete In Annual Sebastian County Spelling Bee

37 To Compete In Annual Sebastian County Spelling Bee

Times Record File Photo / The winner of both the 2013 and 2012 Sebastian County Spelling Bees, Vinny Nguyen, standing, listens to the pronouncer during the 17th round of the 2013 Bee before correctly spelling the word, "hiatus," to win the contest for the second time.

Thirty-seven Sebastian County students in grades four through eight, already winners in their qualifying individual school or home-school student spelling bees, will compete Jan. 25 for the honor of winning the annual Sebastian County Spelling Bee and the chance to compete in the annual statewide bee.

Last January the winner of the 2012 county bee, then-sixth-grader Vinny Nguyen of Christ the King Elementary School, again nailed the win in the 2013 contest. This year Christ the King is fielding another Nguyen — fourth-grader Victor Nguyen — hoping for three in a row.

He’ll face fierce competition from the 36 other hopefuls — three other fourth-graders, eight fifth-graders, 19 sixth-graders, five seventh-graders and one eighth-grader — starting right after the 9 a.m. practice round on Jan. 25 at Breedlove Auditorium on the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith campus. The practice round familiarizes the students with the contest rules.

The countywide bee is open to winners of qualifying bees who are not past the eighth grade and have not reached age 16 before the date of the national bee.

This year marks the 30th year BancorpSouth has sponsored the Sebastian County bee.

Longtime bee coordinator Carl Hill, Barling Elementary School principal, said the bee planners could not host the annual county bee without the bank’s support. The thousands of dollars the bank donates annual for the event is only a small measure of what the volunteers on BancorpSouth’s staff contribute, he said.

“Not only do they provide money, but they help with most of the behind-the-scene logistics like sending the letters to winners’ parents, assuring Breedlove Auditorium at UAFS is available, contacting the media and tons more,” Hill said.

The logistical planning is a year-round undertaking. As quickly as one county bee winds up, the organizers begin planning for the next year’s bee.

BancorpSouth Marketing Vice President Saundra Lockhart has been involved with the Sebastian County Bee for 30 years. Bank staff consider it to be a privilege to work closely with area schools, she said.

Although the bank volunteers tend to stay behind-the-scenes, they benefit, too, by the service, she said. “We touch a lot of educators, administrators and teachers. … We’ve watched how they work. They love those children and would do anything for them,” Lockhart said.

Bee participation builds needed skills for the students in a world where it is so easy for children to go online to use spell check, bee judge Sherri Penix, Euper Lane Elementary principal, has said.

Besides ensuring the event runs smoothly, BancorpSouth awards prizes to the students. The top three contestants receive savings accounts and plaques. The bank provides certificates to all the participants. It also a big chunk of the expenses for the county winner to the state bee, Lockhart said. And in the year a Sebastian County Bee winner also won the Arkansas bee, the bank helped cover that contestant’s expenses for the national bee, she said.

“We’ve done it so long, it feels like our baby,” Lockhart said.

Besides the bank’s awards, the winner receives a traveling trophy for display over the next year at the winner’s school, and UAFS provides scholarships to the winner and second- and third-place runners-up.